Dead or Alive
by maglin
Summary: "The night was wet and cold, the pavement slippery from the never-ending rain..." An intrigue, nameless figures in dark rooms, a very important Post-It-Note and Nami right in the middle of it. AUish
1. Words in the Fog

_**Dead or Alive**_

Words in the fog

The cigar smoke in the darkened small room was so dense that one could not recognise more of the gathered figures, than just the rough outlines of their bodies. The two shapes were facing each other silently, so that one could hear the noise trickling through the ajar door. Laughter, excited voices, soft music... the Marine Ball was already in full swing. One of the figures moved to light a new cigar and took a long puff, before it broke the tense silence.

"So it has been stolen?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Do we know already who is responsible?"

"We have a photo, Sir."

"Give it to me."

"..."

"A Woman?"

"Almost still a girl, Sir. She should be around 19 years old."

"Has she been recorded before? Do we know with whom she belongs?"

"Several thefts, sir. Cash, jewelry, every now and then food. And so far only from pirates, Sir."

"So no pirate then. Does that mean that she belongs to the revolutionaries?"

"We do not know yet, Sir. But the team is working on it. Of course, there is still the possibility that she did not even know what she was stealing there."

"That does not matter. We need these documents, no matter what the costs!"

"Document, Sir."

"Hmh?"

"Document, not documents, Sir. Strictly speaking it is nothing more than a Post-It note, Sir."

"A Post-It note? All this uprise for a _Post-It note_?"

"It contains very valuable formulas, Sir. It is a very important Post-It note. If pirates or God forbids the revolutionaries would get a hold of it... Dr. Vegapunk has written a report on the possible consequences."

"Unpleasant?"

"Very unpleasant, Sir."

"I see."

...

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"What are you planning to do now, Sir?"

"Do we have a name?"

"I think so, Sir."

"Good. Then proceed as we always do."

"You mean ... a bounty, Sir?"

"Yes and make sure it's a high one! She will not be allowed to take a single breath in peace from tomorrow onwards. Throw her to the wolves!"

"I will take care of it, Sir. What shall I tell the Navy why we are looking for her?"

"Depredations, arson, murder... Does it really matter? Choose what you think will work best."

"Alright, Sir."

It crackled quietly as a cigar was stubbed out. Hands were shaken. For a short moment the noise became louder as the door opened a tiny crack, but then it closed again, leaving no trace of the secret meeting other than a photo on the table.  
It showed a girl, actually more a young woman. A pretty face with big brown eyes, framed by wavy orange hair. Completely unaware she looked right into the camera.

* * *

**_A/N:_ Hello there.. Me again. Im starting a new multi chapter story, One Piece this time ("It's all about the boots" is not abandoned, i will see to it, that i will upload the second chapter there soon, promise!)**

**Constructive Critisism is most welcome and if you notice any grammar or spelling mistakes please tell me. English is not my mothertongue and I dont have a Betareader for this.**

**The story is planned out so far and I ve written about four chapters for this already, still, my uploading rythym will be quite irregular I fear. This is just some kind of prologue, the real chapters will be longer, though i dunno how much. Im still learning.**

**Thats about it for now, I think...**

**So long, Mag!**

_**PS. One Piece is owned by Eiichirō Oda, though I assume, that Luffy will claim it in the future.**_


	2. Wet Cobbles

_**Dead or Alive**_

_~ Chapter One ~_

Wet Cobbles

The night was wet and cold, the pavement slippery from the never-ending rain. Nevertheless, she managed to stay on her feet and to run even faster, as the footsteps behind her grew louder. They made so much noise that she could barely hear her own, but she was just fine with that. Let them tell her exactly where they were. Panting, she turned into another alley, elongated and dark as was the last.

The cheap paper in her hands was already completely soaked, a large part of it printed letters blurred and illegible, but she seemed unable to put it down since the moment she had ripped it from one of the greasy walls. Mesmerized, she stared at the picture and the numbers below it - as if by magic the only thing, which had been spared from the water - without being able to figure it out. Blindly she rushed forward, while her fingers dug into the Wanted Poster. A Wanted Poster. _Her_ Wanted Poster! And the bounty on it so high that for a short moment she considered to turn herself in, just to collect the reward. But of course that was madness.

_300 million beli. 300 mill-_

Only with difficulty she managed to suppress the urge to break out into hysterical laughter. The amount was even in these times when the money depreciated more and more in less and less time, so ridiculously high that she had trouble to even imagine it. The whole time she had wondered why they were after her, why they followed her track to every goddamn little town. Now she had her answer, but why her of all people?

Another turn, another alleyway. This one even narrower than the last and stinking like a sewer. Fighting her gag reflex she rushed on. Hopefully that would at least be enough to shake off the damn dogs.

It wasn't like she wasn't accustomed to be hunted. In fact, she even had quite a lot of experience on that subject. As a rule pirates didn't like when they were stolen from. If you couldn't run fast, you didn't last long under these circumstances. She regarded it as a kind of workout. But this time there were no pirates after her, but bounty hunters. Men who were trained to take down aforementioned pirates. And not just one or two ... there were hordes. Whole packs of them roamed the streets. Of course, some people would argue, there wasn't that much of a difference. After all, also pirate crews were sometimes very large and sometimes also very well trained and organized, but she would have told those people to mind their own fucking business, perhaps accompanied by a blow to the head. Because she knew better. Local inhabitants opened their doors seldom willingly to pirates. They didn't tell pirates for a handful of coins that there was a young woman hiding in their basement. One kept together against pirates, even in these times. But there wasn't a safe place for her. These bastards searched Inns, attics, backyards. And they didn't give up. Already three times within the last week she had changed town, but there only seemed to be more of them.

A hoarse call in the distance caused her to change her course again and to bolt into the opposite direction. From afar she could hear the muffled murmur of the main road, it couldn't be far anymore. The house walls on either side, sky-high and black as the night, stood so close that she almost grazed her skin on their rough rendering, as she squeezed through the narrow passage. Her breathing sounded rash and hasty, like a hounded animal. But she couldn't stop. Not yet.

Why did somebody place a bounty on her head?

Well okay, she had stolen. Quite a bit, actually. But since when was it a crime to steal from pirates? Weren't there much worse offenses? And why the hell this ridiculously high sum? That put even warlords to shame! Frustrated, she stuffed the scrap of paper into the pocket of her completely soaked shorts. She hadn't time to doubt the Navy's intelligence right now. Not that there would have been much to doubt...

Skidding she came to a stop and cocked her head, listening. All around her sounded the agitated voices of the bounty hunters. But unlike before, they sounded no longer triumphant, but confused. The barking of their dogs had become a pathetic whining. She sneered. A good sense of direction enabled you to confuse even locals so much that they no longer find their way around their own neighborhood, just by running in circles. And her sense of direction was more than just good...

Nevertheless – slowly but surely she grew tired of this everlasting game of cat-and-mouse. She couldn't get any work done. Wrapping her arms around her drenched body she slowed her steps and trotted back the way she had come. She breathed a sigh of relief when after a short walk she noticed the lights of the main road in front of her. After the witch hunt through the dark streets of the Lower Town even the cold light of the street lamps appeared to be warm and inviting to her. Moreover, it would be so much easier to hide there among all those other people. Only one night owl of many. Nothing special. Even so late in the evening there was a crowd of people here. They huddled together, rushed back and forth between the colorful stalls, bought, sold or simply looked at the offered goods. In places like this, one could almost forget the bad shape this world was in right now.

Head down, she pushed right into the crowd and let herself be driven by its flow. Of course while relieving some of the by-passers of their hard earned money. It had become a kind of reflex and in all honesty, if they made it so unbelievable easy for her, the people really got only themselves to blame. Almost casually, she reached out and swiped a wide-brimmed hat of one of the stalls, a long colorful silk scarf from another and was already gone, before the salesmen had ever noticed her. With her new hat shadowing her face and the scarf wrapped around her neck she went on quietly, following the flow of the crowd to the next junction and disappeared with a brief look back into the shadows. This time, however, on the other side of the street.

The Upper Town wasn't quite as run down as the alleys of the slums. The streets were wider, cleaner (though not much) and there were lanterns. Even if most of them didn't accomplish more than a sickly flicker. But here, too, the houses were ill-kempt, the grass in the front gardens almost knee high and yellowed. This town had clearly seen better days. Recently, cases such as this were becoming more frequent. The economic situation was bad and the Navy too busy fighting the revolutionaries as to take action against the marauding pirate crews who often raided the port towns like a pack of starved wolves and took the little, that the people still possessed. Lately, they have been sighted more and more often inland...

But at least the houses were still standing here. Her hometown hadn't been so lucky.

Quickly pushing this memory to the back of her mind the young woman quickened her pace and rubbed her bare arms, shivering in the cool evening air. It was about time that she got somewhere warm. Somewhere around here she had seen an empty house whose roof was still in relatively good condition. Pushing the hat back she looked down the road and sighed with relief when her destination caught her eye. Small and low the building crouched between two large mansions, like an intimidated child. Almost sympathetic she looked at the crumbling plaster and the weathered ornaments which adorned the once probably white front, while she jauntily leaped over the wrought-iron fence. If she were a house, she thought, while she trudged through the damp grass up to the front door, she probably would look just like this.

The old lock was almost as rusty as the fence and a piece of cake for her pocket knife. Creaking the door swung open and cautiously she peered into the darkness as she took off her hat. Silence met her when she hesitantly made a step inside. Thick, pristine dust lay on the floor like a dirty carpet and the bare walls gave the musty smell of mold. She grimaced. No, she was definitely used to something better than this, but refugees couldn't be picky. Listening for any suspicious noises she took another step into the house and spied an old worn-out sofa in the dim light of the street lamp outside. Well, for tonight it would be enough. And by tomorrow morning she would already be up and away, while these slow-witted bounty hunters were still wandering around in the slums. The thought made her giggle gleefully. At least until a shadow fell over her. A damn big shadow.

"Care to share? Maybe I can laugh as well?"

* * *

_**A/N: And here it is, Chapter 1. I hope you like it, if not... critisism is most welcome (if constructive) so don't hold back. **_

_**Curious to hear/read your thoughts, Mag!~**_

_**PS. One Piece is still in the possesion of Eiichiro Oda (Luffy seems in no hurry).**_

_**PPS. I'm most grateful for the positive feedback so far, i hope this is also to your liking.**_


End file.
